027-9] 

[J?564-f 

unctions  of  the  Library 
of  a Banking  Institution 


Guaranty  Trust  Company 
of  New  York 


Functions  of  the  Library 
of  a Banking  Institution 

I'/BSITY  CF  ILUKOIS  U3JURY 


JUL  24  1919 


"'Rale/ fh  S-  riif-e 

Functions  of  the  Library 
of  a Banking  Institution 


►KlYEPiSITY  CF  IllSSOiS  UmRY 


JUL  24  1918 


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Guaranty  Trust  Company 
of  New  York 


140  Broadway 

FIFTH  AVE.  OFFICE  MADISON  AVE.  OFFICE 
Fifth  Ave.  and  43rd  St.  Madison  Ave.  and  60th  St. 


Capital  and  Surplus 
Resources  more  than 


- $50,000,000 

- $700,000,000 


O'KI*  ? 

Functions  of  the  Library 
of  a Banking  Institution 


From  an  address  by  Raleigh  S.  Rife,  of  the 
Bond  Statistical  Division  of  the  Guaranty 
Trust  Company  of  New  York,  before  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  Special  Libraries’  Associ- 
ation, Asbury  Park,  N.  J .,  June  25,  1919 . 


WE  have  been  called  a nation  of  “eco- 
nomic illiterates” — because  we  have  been 
provincial.  The  investing  public  must  be 
made  to  see  the  significance  of  investment 
of  capital  in  other  countries.  Our  finan- 
cial press  and  our  financial  and  business  lead- 
ers will  need  broader  and  wider  sources  of  in- 
formation. While  our  business  was  mainly 
within  the  confines  of  our  own  country,  much 
of  the  general  information  needed  as  the  basis 
for  financial  investments  was  a part  of  the  at- 
mosphere in  which  we  lived,  but  for  foreign 
investments  the  sources  of  general  informa- 
tion are  outside  of  ourselves  and  it  becomes 
necessary  for  us  to  build  up  adequate  sources 
of  information  so  that  the  public  may  be  in- 
formed of  conditions  in  other  countries;  may 
start  to  think  in  international  terms,  and  con- 
sider the  opportunities  for  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  enterprise  in  other  countries. 

Information  Investor  Desires 

In  making  foreign  loans  it  is  necessary  to 
assure  the  American  purchaser  that  he  can 
get  information  and  that  he  has  back  of  him 
the  banking  strength  of  his  country  and,  in 


turn,  the  power  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. The  first  task  is  'to  present  essential 
information  to  the  American  public,  so  that  it 
may  come  to  understand  the  conditions  in 
other  countries;  that  the  element  of  distance 
between  countries  is  not  relatively  important; 
and  that  the  American  banks,  with  their  bran- 
ches established  abroad  and  through  affiliated 
institutions,  are  in  a position  to  render  ad- 
equate service  in  supplying  information. 

Specific  Facts  Needed 

The  investor  wants  to  know  about  the  char- 
acter of  the  people  of  the  country  in  which 
he  is  placing  his  capital.  He  wants  to  know 
their  industrial  character,  their  inventive 
qualities,  the  development  of  the  spirit  of 
thrift,  the  degree  of  regard  they  have  for 
faithfully  fulfilling  individual  obligations,  and 
the  strength  of  their  national  self-respect.  He 
wants  to  know  about  the  stability  of  their 
government,  and  the  attitude  of  their  govern- 
ment, and  the  political  elements  making  up 
that  government,  toward  foreign  capital. 
He  wants  to  know  about  the  social  structure 
of  the  country,  and  whether  it  has  for  years 
maintained  a class  of  people  in  an  exploited 
condition.  He  wants  to  know  about  the  state 
of  economy  existing  in  that  country;  as  to 
whether  it  is  in  the  pastoral,  agricultural,  or 
industrial  state  of  development,  and  the 
stability  of  business  life. 

The  foreign  investor  wants  to  know  about 
the  variety  of  natural  resources,  the  extent  to 
which  they  have  been  developed,  and  the 
opportunities  for  further  expansion.  He  wants 
to  know  about  the  currency  and  the  stability 
of  monetary  values  and  exchange  values. 
The  prospective  investor  must  get  an  un- 
derstanding of  how  the  people  live  in  the 


country  in  which  he  is  making  the  investment; 
characteristics  of  their  life  and  the  relation- 
ship that  we  have  had  with  them  in  a trade  and 
investment  way.  These  are  all  general  ques- 
tions that  the  American  public  must  come 
to  appreciate  and  about  which  they  must 
be  informed. 

Specialized  Sources 

In  the  case  of  a particular  investment  the 
American  investor  will  want,  in  addition  to 
this,  information  of  a more  varied  character. 
If  he  is  making  a loan  to  the  government  he 
will  want  to  know  about  the  state  of  govern- 
ment finance,  the  national  debt,  the  reven- 
ues, the  diversity  of  revenues,  the  extent  to 
which  budgets  balance,  how  the  government 
spends  its  money,  the  relation  of  debt  service 
to  net  revenues,  the  amount  of  property  that 
the  government  owns  as  an  offset  to  the 
public  debt,  the  extent  to  which  the  govern- 
ment is  engaged  in  business  undertakings, 
and  a multitude  of  other  questions.  In  the 
case  of  a railroad,  he  will  want  to  know  about 
the  past  history  of  the  road,  the  opportuni- 
ties in  its  territory,  and  the  character  of  its 
management. 

The  growth  of  this  type  of  business  has 
drawn  upon  leaders  of  finance  and  leaders  of 
industry  the  gigantic  problem  of  acquiring 
sources  of  information,  of  accumulating 
knowledge  of  conditions  in  foreign  countries, 
of  getting  the  international  point  of  view  so 
that  the  investor  may  appreciate  the  other 
man’s  viewpoint  as  well  as  his  own.  This 
problem  is  pressing  upon  our  banks,  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  this  is  a meeting  of 
special  libraries  I have  endeavored  to  point 
out  in  a general  way  the  type  of  information 
that  you  will  need  in  your  libraries  to  fulfill 

[7] 


the  growing  call  of  our  financial  and  business 
leaders  for  information  relative  to  foreign 
countries.  The  best  way  that  I can  give  an 
appreciation  of  what  can  be  done  along  these 
lines  is  to  refer  briefly  to  what  the  Guaranty 
Trust  Company  is  doing  in  developing  its 
library  and  files  of  information  to  assist  the 
investor. 

Facilities  of  this  Company  for 
Supplying  Information 

The  Guaranty  Trust  Company  has  four 
separate  divisions  concerned  to  a consider- 
able extent  with  the  gathering  of  foreign  in- 
formation for  investors. 

The  Foreign  Credit  Division  collects  credit 
information  so  that  the  American  exporter 
as  well  as  the  American  investor  may  have 
accurate  credit  information  about  the  firms 
with  which  he  is  doing  business.  Our  foreign 
branches  and  our  affiliated  institutions,  hav- 
ing branches  in  other  countries,  enable  us  in 
turn  to  give  better  and  more  satisfactory 
credit  information. 

Demand  for  American  Goods  Abroad 

Our  Foreign  Trade  Bureau  maintains  a 
special  research  bureau  which  aims  to  keep 
in  constant  touch  with  markets  in  other 
countries.  Its  purpose  is  to  put  American 
business  men  and  exporters  in  touch  with 
associations  and  firms  in  other  countries  that 
have  need  of  the  products  of  American  in- 
dustry. This  bureau  also  makes  studies 
of  the  present,  as  well  as  probable  future, 
demand  for  American  products  in  other 
countries,  and  disseminates  its  information 
through  interviews,  articles  in  periodicals 
and  newspapers,  and  through  a semi-month- 
ly pamphlet  dealing  with  markets  for  Amer- 
ican goods  in  foreign  markets. 


Foreign  Need  for  American  Capital 

The  Statistical  Division  of  our  Bond  De- 
partment is  concerned  in  part  with  the  study 
of  economic  and  financial  conditions  and  the 
opportunities  for  the  use  of  American  long- 
term capital  in  other  countries.  It  gives  in- 
vestment advice  and  information  in  regard  to 
securities  and  investment  opportunities  in 
other  countries.  The  Bond  Department, 
through  the  Statistical  Division,  represen- 
tatives in  other  countries,  and  affiliated  in- 
stitutions, is  able  to  assure  the  investing 
public  of  careful  investigation  of  foreign 
securities  offered  for  public  subscription. 

These  three  service  divisions  of  the  Com- 
pany rely  to  a great  extent  upon  the  Guar- 
anty Reference  Library,  which  is  the  central 
source  of  information.  The  world  war,  in 
throwing  America  immediately  into  the 
midst  of  problems  of  international  finance, 
placed  a new  and  growing  burden  upon  our 
banks,  and  we  find  many  of  them  establish- 
ing libraries  as  sources  of  information.  As 
New  York  becomes  a more  important  inter- 
national finance  market,  the  financial  in- 
stitutions find  a growing  need  for  special 
financial  libraries. 

Reference  Library  of  the  Guaranty 
Trust  Company 

The  Guaranty  Trust  Company  has  been 
cognizant  of  this  responsibility  and  has  been 
developing  its  Library  for  several  years. 
Recently  Babson’s  Financial  Library  in 
New  York  City  was  purchased  and  consoli- 
dated with  the  Guaranty’s  Reference  Li- 
brary. The  library  at  present  consists  of 
approximately  40,000  indentures,  annual  re- 
ports and  circulars  on  railroads,  public  utili- 


ties  and  investment  securities,  and  20,000 
books  and  pamphlets. 

The  library  staff  is  divided  into  three  divi- 
sions for  the  collection  of  material.  The 
Reference  Library  proper  orders,  catalogs, 
and  indexes  magazines,  books  and  reports  of 
government  departments,  and  other  general 
sources  of  information.  The  Clipping  Bu- 
reau clips  the  leading  daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers of  this  country  as  well  as  many  for- 
eign countries,  and  arranges  these  clippings 
according  to  subjects.  The  Statistical  Files 
gathers  the  reports,  earning  statements,  in- 
dentures, circulars,  and  other  information 
relative  to  domestic  and  foreign  corpora- 
tions. The  library  receives  regularly  about 
300  newspapers  and  magazines,  including 
the  leading  financial  periodicals  and  eco- 
nomic reviews  of  many  countries. 

Foreign  Sources  of  Information 

I desire  to  make  special  reference  to  sour- 
ces of  information  concerning  foreign  coun- 
tries. The  Reference  Library  endeavors  to 
get  a complete  set  of  the  government  publi- 
cations of  many  foreign  countries.  Partic- 
ular emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  South 
America.  The  official  newspapers  which 
contain  decrees,  laws  and  reports  of  the  min- 
isters of  finance  and  the  treasury,  as  well  as 
other  departments,  to  the  legislative  branches 
of  the  governments,  are  received.  Reports 
of  departments  dealings  with  public  debts 
and  revenues,  with  public  works,  commerce, 
trade,  and  industry  are  obtained.  In  this 
way  we  have  collected  as  nearly  as  possible  a 
complete  set  of  official  sources  of  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  financial  and  economic 
conditions  of  various  countries. 


These  files  are  supplemented  by  daily  and 
weekly  newspapers,  financial  periodicals,  and 
reports  issued  by  chambers  of  commerce  and 
financial  institutions.  At  present  the  library 
is  receiving  approximately  eighty-five  peri- 
odicals and  magazines  from  foreign  countries, 
which  in  their  scope  cover  practically  the 
entire  globe.  These  sources  are  being  added 
to  as  rapidly  as  we  can  ascertain  the  value  of 
various  publications  and  of  the  information 
that  they  publish. 

The  Statistical  Files  division  is  building 
up  a large  collection  of  foreign  corporate 
information.  Reports  and  other  financial 
information  are  obtained  concerning  rail- 
ways, public  utilities  and  industrial  corpora- 
tions in  other  countries.  The  quotation  lists 
of  the  leading  stock  exchanges  of  the  world 
are  received.  The  effort  is  made  to  collect 
comprehensive  information  so  that  the  vari- 
ous divisions  of  the  Guaranty  Trust  Com- 
pany can  give  service  to  customers,  to  im- 
porters and  exporters,  and  to  investors. 

Service  at  Disposal  of  Public 

The  financial  library  of  a banking  institu- 
tion, in  fact,  is  becoming  one  of  its  most  im- 
portant service  divisions.  Many  persons 
seeking  investments  abroad  much  prefer  to 
make  a study  of  conditions  themselves. 
Many  corporations  prefer  that  their  own 
foreign  sales  departments  make  investiga- 
tions of  particular  foreign  markets  or 
companies.  The  Reference  Library  of  the 
Guaranty  Trust  Company  is  open  to  those 
who  prefer  to  make  their  own  investigations. 
Library  assistants  will  obtain  the  material 
bearing  on  the  subjects  under  investigation, 
and  will  translate  documents  and  other  infor- 
mation printed  in  foreign  languages. 

[ii] 


